Beloveds: we said in the 2 last weeks that all the prophets, apostles, teachers, pastors and preachers around the world agree that these days are for special visitations from the Lord to His people for a great revival invading the world, and in the same time it is time for an aggressive encounter with the enemy who will try to stop this work.. and the more the church would shine and have impact, the more the devil and all those who dwell and walk in the darkness would feel threatened.. and the more they will attack the church.
And when the war gets harder, and the enemy’s attacks increase, our reactions will be different, some would resist and continue the walk till they fulfill God’s purpose completely, but some would restrain under the pressure of the battle and run away, this is why God’s word to us today is to warn us, to reveal the plans of the enemy, to equip us so we can all be counted among those who persist and achieve great sure victory.
What are you doing here Elijah? A question that the Lord asked Elijah twice.. Did God need Elijah's answer to know? Of course not.. but His question was a second chance for Elijah to rethink about his attitude, and for him to discover that he is in the wrong place, out the plan of God.
What happened with Elijah?
He faced the wicked king Ahab with great rare boldness, he killed all the prophets of Baal, he brought back the hearts of the people to God.. this is a great huge work, but the devil used the wicked Jezebel to scare him.. so he didn’t continue his mission and he restrained under the pressure of threat and fear.. he run away: " And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him: What are you doing here, Elijah? So he said: I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life. Then He said: Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said: What are you doing here, Elijah? And he said (the same answer), Then the Lord said to him: … And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place… Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him " (1 Kings 19 : 9 – 18).
The Lord is good and loving, he didn’t forget the zeal and weary of Elijah, because he is a God who doesn’t forget the labor of love, this is why he came to Elijah and said to him: “what are you doing here Elijah? This is not my plan to you.. this is not where I want you to be.. I don’t want you to restrain from a battle that you’re already involved in and you have already won many stages in it, I want you to continue the last stage, so you can enjoy full victory”.
But Elijah under the pressure of the battle, under the pressure of fear, didn’t respond to the lord, he defended himself being there and said: I am left alone.
The Lord didn’t restrain, He asked him to go out of the cave and stand before him, and the Lord caused a mighty wind to blow, to split the mountains and break the rocks, then he caused an earthquake, then he made a fire pass through, and then he asked Elijah again: what are you doing here Elijah?
What has changed between the first and the second question?
The Lord was saying to Elijah: no.. you are not alone.. and He says to him: do you know who I AM? I AM the almighty God who tares the mountains and breaks the rocks to make a way for you, I am the God who shakes the earth for you, I am the God who cause fire to walk before you to burn your enemies.. what are you doing here? Yet Elijah didn’t respond.
The Lord loved him, and will always love him, and we all know that he ascended him alive to heaven, because he doesn’t forget the labor of his children and servants, but in the same time.. the mission will not stop, the war should be the Lord’s, He is a God who can’t loose, and He never and will never forsake saving the souls, this is why He said to Elijah: " And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place… Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him ".
You are not alone I AM with you.. not only this, but there is another prophet.. and seven thousand ready to continue the war and complete the guaranteed victory.
32000 warriors went with Gideon to save the people from the Midianites, but only 300 continued the trip, and the Lord said to Gideon: with only these I will rescue you.
What about David’s heroes?
" Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder. And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. Then the people fled from the Philistines. But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. And the Lord brought about a great victory ".
( 2 Samuel 23 : 9 – 12).
When all the rest withdrew and ran away.. they remained.. so the Lord granted them victory, so they saved the people and made them come and steal the treasures.
Jonathan knew this principle too, when he attacked great numbers of enemies, and overcome them all, he said: " … For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few " (1 Samuel 14 : 6).
The Lord’s question is addressed to many of us today.. what are you doing here? Where are you today? Did you restrain from the battle? Or maybe you’re not involved in it as you should be? Do you fight boldly firmly and aggressively? Are you fulfilling your role faithfully and firmly no matter what? Are you going to stand fast where you are like David’s heroes even if all the others withdrew like what happened with the people.
are you willing to fight till the ultimate victory? Let each one of us ask himself today: where am I? Maybe you withdrew or maybe you’re not participating loyally, firmly, hardly and energetically enough for many other reasons than fear.. Life’s weary and pleasures.. you’ve set limits to your life that you don’t want to cross.. work and money took over your heart.. a relationship that is not according to God’s will to your life shut down your enthusiasm to the Lord.. your priorities are not according to God’s order, the Lord is not number one in your life.. or other similar things, anyway everyone knows his matters better.. but no matter what the reason is, know that you’ve withdrew and ran away to places where you’ve find a convenient escape to your problems.
And the Lord is saying to you today: what are you doing here?
He understands your labor.. he understand the cruelty of the battle.. he knows your abilities very well.. and he didn’t leave you alone, he showed you His power just like He did with Elijah, and of course He’d put by your side might warriors, brothers to protect you and stand by your side.. but what matters to Him is your reaction toward what you’re facing of wars pressures and burdens, He wants your reaction to be like the 2 guys reaction, let’s see their reaction and learn from them so we won’t be like Elijah but like them, so we can enjoy the certain victory:
The first person is: Nehemiah.
This story took place while building the wall of Jerusalem:
" Then Judah said: The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall. And our adversaries said: They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease… Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people: Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work " (Nehemiah 4 : 10 – 15).
The strength of the warriors is failing, the work is big, the hindrances are many, and the enemies will surprise them and kill them and cause the work to cease.. so they said: we can not build the wall”. What was Nehemiah’s reaction?
He remembered that his God tares the mountains.. breaks the rocks.. shakes the earth.. and burns the enemies with fire.. that’s why he didn’t flee but said to the people: “Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses”.
So he put the guards, armed the people, and God turned down the plans of the enemy, so they went back to build the wall again.
Nehemiah believed in God’s power, he knew he is not fighting alone, neither for himself, he knew that there is the fate of a whole people depending on his reaction, so he persisted and counted on God’s power, and he succeeded and overcame.
The second person is: the Lord Jesus.
" And He was withdrawn from them about a stone ’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying: Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground " (Luke 22 : 41 – 44).
It was a brutal battle against the Lord as our representative, a great struggle that the Lord suffered, and He said to the Father: if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.
He didn’t withdrew.. He submitted His will to the Father’s will, although the battle was so brutal, and the Father sent him an angel to strengthen him, and His sweat drops became like blood drops. He wasn’t fighting, combating and struggling for himself.. but for all humankind.. He continued the battle and He won, and He accomplished redemption and salvation.
The Lord loves you and He’s saying to you today: “come back.. return.. come back I love you, I prepared the best for you, I give you the most precious I have, My Son, My only begotten Jesus, I didn’t fell short on you so don’t you fell short on me.. I am waiting for you”.
And as Nehemiah said: fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. The Lord is telling us today:
“your suffering, captivated, sick people are waiting for you.. Lebanon is waiting for you.. revival is coming for sure, even if by the 300, even if by 2 heroes like David’s heroes, even if by only one person like Jonathan”.
But because of His loving heart He doesn’t want you to be out of it because He doesn’t want you to cry bitterly like Peter did..
Come back.. return.. come back.. the Lord miss sitting with you, He’s not waiting for your return to punish you, but to heal you and heal your wounds and to provide all your needs.. and strengthen you and release you in the battlefield again.
One more thing for those who are continuing and want to continue the war despite its brutality, I am telling you revival is coming very soon.. victory is so near.. the Lord will give many of you great gifts, miracles signs and wonders and faith.. and with these gifts we would face big danger: arrogance, pride, counting on ourselves, stealing glory from the Lord, show off, and most important: the motives, which will be subject to great test from the Lord, and the Lord is warning us today because of His love to us.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrew says: " Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God " (Hebrews 12 : 2).
He endured everything he went through, He continued the battle and didn’t withdraw back, for one reason: the joy that was set before him, which is the salvation of souls, for He loved His own till the end.. that’s why we are called to look at him so our motives would be like His.. and He said: " You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these " (Mark 12 : 30 – 31).
Two motives with no third one: to endure all the suffering, the pain, the sacrifices and the brutality of the battle maybe to death, and use the gifts and the anointing for 2 reasons: my love to my redeemer and my love to others.
And we end with what Paul the apostle said: " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing " (1 Corinthians 13 : 1 – 2).
With no doubt.. God will grant many of us a faith that moves mountains, and breaks the rocks, and he will give great gifts and double anointing, to defeat the kingdom of darkness and deliver the souls.. but if your motive from using them is not your love to the Lord from all of your heart and your soul and your mind and your will, and your love to the lost and to your enemies even is like your love to yourself, you will be like sounding brass and clanging cymbal, and you will be nothing.. So let’s be careful while we are at the door of a great revival invading our country which we are already seeing it blossoming.
